This invention relates to the manufacture of magnetron anodes and similarly shaped objects and, more particularly, to a method of securing vanes to an outer wall of the magnetron prior to a brazing operation.
Magnetrons are frequently used as a source of electromagnetic energy. Today magnetrons are made in large quantities to provide electromagnetic energy at a frequency of 2450 MHz (megahertz) for microwave ovens wherein the energy serves to heat food contained within the oven. Typically, such magnetrons comprise an anode configured in the form of a tubular wall with a set of planar vanes projecting radially inward from the wall. For example, an anode having the foregoing structure is shown in the U.S. Pat. No. 2,832,005 which issued in the name of W. C. Brown on Apr. 22, 1958. Each of the vanes is provided with stepped slots to permit the electrical connection of shorting rings to alternate ones of the vanes.
A problem arises in the manufacture of such magnetron anode structures in that the vanes are brazed to the wall during one step of the manufacturing process. Typically, the vanes and the wall are constructed of copper with a silver plating being applied prior to the brazing operation. A jig supports the vanes in their respective positions within a brazing furnace as the silver and copper of the vanes and walls are brazed to a unitary structure. Such jigs must necessarily be able to withstand the high temperatures of the brazing furnace. However, in practice, it has been found that the jigs deteriorate due to the high temperatures with the result that the foregoing manufacturing process is unduly costly.